Britain From The Outside

The recent changes on Blogigo, and people's reaction to them, has inspired me to write a few words on the subject of change.

I do not regard the words "new" and "improved" as necessarily belonging together.  To me change is not necessarily for the better.  I think there was a "sea change" on December 31st, 1999 and since then many people have implied that anything in the 20th century is somehow "invalid".  Sentences that begin "In the 21st century....." grate on my mind.

When I was in my early days of employment I was often chastised for "re-inventing the wheel" when I proposed "new and improved" ways of doing things.  As I progressed through my career (in computer software development) I saw many changes, some for the better.  I did get the impression that often change was just for the sake of change and I saw many wheels re-invented simply because people did not want to be bothered by learning about "legacy systems".

I now see the wheel being re-invented in American foreign policy, with America making all the same mistakes that the United Kingdom made in its days of empire.

Change can be good, but those who make changes must do so with a background of history, otherwise all they will do is make yet another wheel.